Mikki Kraushaar is not leaving Silver Key Senior Services; she's just going to do more of what she does best for the non-profit
agency for the elderly.
This is how Doug Truitt, chairman of the board for Silver Key, described the recent change in Kraushaar's title from executive
director to that of “president emeritus.”
Kraushaar, 69, started Silver Key, located in the Midland area of the Westside, 33 years ago. In a phone interview with the
Westside Pioneer, she expressed a willingness to work with the board on her new role, but said the decision caught her by
surprise. “It was like having a death in the family,” she said.
The interim executive director is Jon Stepleton, a former daily newspaper executive, now self-employed, who has been involved
with a “number of different non-profits,” Truitt told the Pioneer.
The board is forming a search committee that will begin the hiring process for a permanent executive director in late May or early
June, he said.
Although upbeat about the agency's future, the six-year board chairman conceded that breaking the news to Kraushaar was a
“hard thing.” However, he elaborated, “We've been talking about it with her for years. We had finally gotten to the point where
for lots and lots of real positive reasons we wanted to make changes in the agency.”
He said the board wants Kraushaar “to stay focused on where her real strengths are - “telling the Silver Key story and fund-
raising.”
He credited her for raising 95 percent of the agency's annual $2 million budget. “When she's in front of a group, it's hard for
people to tell her no,” Truitt said.
Both Kraushaar and Truitt said they did not believe the change would hurt morale at the agency. “The staff is loyal to the
mission,” Kraushaar said.